Good luck MS...you're gonna need it! Although i regularly talk with developers and IT "architects" out there that say even though the iPhone is hugely popular, they still won't write apps for it becasue still many large companies use MS products. It makes no sense for them to develop and support products that work on different platforms. I think MS has some real catching up to do, but given the huge improvement MS has made with Windows 7 (long overdue) i can see how phone 7 will be pretty popular; maybe not as ambitious as Mr. Balmer would like but let's sit back and watch...should be interesting.

If MS-P7 can successfully integrate active synching between enterprise systems and application to the phone, they might have an edge up on Apple, RIM and Android.

So will these Win Phones require Norton, Kaspersky etc.. Will they always be requiring a restart after the tenth update that day? Will they get slower and slower and slower ...???

Also won't all these same manufactures be selling Android phones too? That might make life complicated for MS. I don't see them being able to bully manufacturers into exclusivity these days.

I'll answer your questions in order:

No
No
Yes (lol)

At least that's what I can tell you about the current windows mobile platform. It just gets slower after a year or so. What I've done is created an image of my "perfect setup" and when I do a hard reset, I can just load from the image and I've got everything I need. I can also create separate backups of my contacts in case I add people that year, know what I mean?

Anyways, just like OSX, windows mobile for years has gotten by without any viruses because of "security through obscurity." It's a common concept. It doesn't mean the OS is completely safe, just that the odds of an attack are. OSX can get viruses like Windows, but it's Windows that's got the attention from hackers.

As far as competing phones go, it's all business to the manufacturer. The way they see it, if they carry many different phones, their potential to appeal to YOU goes up. Like if you don't want android, well have a look at WP7. So long as you're buying the phone from them. Microsoft and Google have no say as to what kind of other phones they can carry. I even think it might be illegal for them to try. Like if Apple told AT&T not to carry Palm phones; I think that might be illegal.

Also won't all these same manufactures be selling Android phones too? That might make life complicated for MS. I don't see them being able to bully manufacturers into exclusivity these days.

The phone shown is from Dell. They are releasing 4 more, all running Android. No exclusivity there.

The phone shown in the picture, however, is their flagship of the line. I am surprised that they chose the winPhone for that, but maybe M$ wanted exclusivity, and instead, got the flagship phone as a consolation.

They predict that they will sell 6 million phones per quarter on average for 5 quarters. They predict (as you do) that they will not be anywhere near RIM, Nokia and Android in sales.

They do not predict that they will even be in the top 5.

They do not predict that they will even outsell Apple, who also is not in the top 5.

Maybe you should learn to tell the difference between ALL mobile phones and smart phones. The overwhelming majority of phones sold (particularly from the top 5 vendors) are dumb phones - and it's unlikely that WinMob 7 is going on those. They would have to capture a huge fraction of smartphones.

For comparison, Apple has reached something like 50 M iPhones in 3 years - and that's the phone that's universally considered the phone to beat and given the best consumer ratings. Aside from only having one cell provider in the US, they have global coverage and a strong ecosystem.

Microsoft's OS won't be out until the end of this year (if they manage to meet a target for a change). That means they'll have 12 months to sell 30 M phones. Just not likely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reverie

Why are people so obsessed with those "free" phones? Hello, there's still a $2000 contract attached to each "free" phone!

That's the logical way to look at it - but logic doesn't always prevail. Whenever there's a BOGO offer in cell phones, adoption rates skyrocket.

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitalclips

Maybe Ballmer is going to achieve this by giving one free to every Zune owner .

Yes, they could do that. So they only need to sell 29,999,997 more.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

What a pathetic joke. That hideous excuse for an OS is going to sell itself on 30 million phones? Not a chance in the world.

It's really not that bad. I saw a video of the office stuff running on it, and it honestly makes sense. When I first saw that ui, I thought it was crap, but it turns out it's very functional.

The multitasking is pretty much exactly what Apple is doing with the iphone, which is a little weird since Apple is going after anyone who copies multi-touch gestures for crying out loud. I'd say multitasking is a bit more important. But then again, WP7 was announced before OS4.... Makes you wonder.

The phone shown is from Dell. They are releasing 4 more, all running Android. No exclusivity there.

The phone shown in the picture, however, is their flagship of the line. I am surprised that they chose the winPhone for that, but maybe M$ wanted exclusivity, and instead, got the flagship phone as a consolation.

You keep confusing projections of future events with current reality. This is silly, particularly when projections from companies like Microsoft so often fail to come true, or only come true in a diluted form and very late.

Let's talk about reality, not some hyper-inflated vaporware idea of someone's distorted view of the future.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

You keep confusing projections of future events with current reality. This is silly, particularly when projections from companies like Microsoft so often fail to come true, or only come true in a diluted form and very late.

Let's talk about reality, not some hyper-inflated vaporware idea of someone's distorted view of the future.

You didn't read the question which my post was in answer to.

I specifically posted the answer in response to a question about the future.

If you want to talk about reality, do it. But please don't butt into an existing conversation about future Win7 phones with an insistence that the subject be changed.

And please don't accuse me of being confused when you don't even know what the heck is currently under discussion in the subthread.

With all the vocal blunders Microsoft has made in the past, they are setting themselves up for failure by proclaiming their goal.

Of course, regardless of how many units they give - er... "sell", when the final number is below their expectations, they will already have some kind of verbal marketing script already in place that will explain how "happy" they are with their initial launch.

Has anyone heard how their "amazing" Microsoft Stores are doing?

Ballmer is a sales guy.... this is an 'ABC' motivational goal. Wait till Ballmer sends Alec Baldwin to those Microsoft Stores for some motivational vibes.

Microsoft have a lot of very intelligent and innovative individuals working for them. What they lack is the managerial structure and cohesion to capitalize on those ideas. Or more specifically, Ballmer is a jackass.

So will these Win Phones require Norton, Kaspersky etc.. Will they always be requiring a restart after the tenth update that day? Will they get slower and slower and slower ...???

Also won't all these same manufactures be selling Android phones too? That might make life complicated for MS. I don't see them being able to bully manufacturers into exclusivity these days.

I've always wondered how you will able to do CTRL-ALT-DEL with a Windows 7 Tablet/Slate. However, it seems MS solved the problem with Window Phone 7. Pressing the three buttons (back-Windows-Bing) will probably will act like CTRL-ALT-DEL. No wonder MS requires all Windows Phone 7 to have three buttons, no more no less

Microsoft have a lot of very intelligent and innovative individuals working for them. What they lack is the managerial structure and cohesion to capitalize on those ideas. Or more specifically, Ballmer is a jackass.

By virtue of including the Zune as a Microsoft innovation (a re branded toshi player...) you don't expect to be taken seriously now, do you? If you ask the very people who created, well, adopted actually the Zune from Toshi, if they were innovators they would laugh out loud themselves.

By virtue of including the Zune as a Microsoft innovation (a re branded toshi player...) you don't expect to be taken seriously now, do you? If you ask the very people who created, well, adopted actually the Zune from Toshi, if they were innovators they would laugh out loud themselves.

Says "My Apple Love"... one thinks you'd better not start casting the "expect to be taken seriously now" stones just yet!

Truth be told I had it off the list and re-added it just before the post after deciding the 2nd gen UI, sharing and subscription service warranted its inclusion.

In any case agreement on anything Zune-related is of no consequence as there are plenty of other items on the list for you to complain about.

Maybe you should learn to tell the difference between ALL mobile phones and smart phones. The overwhelming majority of phones sold (particularly from the top 5 vendors) are dumb phones - and it's unlikely that WinMob 7 is going on those. They would have to capture a huge fraction of smartphones.

If Microsoft sold 6 mil phones and we assume a zero sum game (which it's not), then Microsoft would need to capture 11% of today's smartphone market.

However, the report also states that the smartphone market is growing at 56.7% YoY. At this rate, the total market size in Q1 2011 will be 85.7 mil. Thus, Microsoft would only need to capture 7% of the Q1 2011 smartphone market.

In reality, the percentage of the market that Microsoft will need to grab in order to reach its 30 million target is likely to be even lower. Smartphone sales are cyclical, with the majority sold during the holiday season. The 2011 holiday season will be make or break for Microsoft.